Brian Armstrong, CEO of the U.S.’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase, acknowledged the significant role of new media in shaping election outcomes, crediting the company’s former tech head Balaji Srinivasan for his early foresight.
What Happened: On Sunday, Armstrong took to X to express his views on the changing media landscape and its impact on elections.
“This seems like the first election where new media has fully flipped traditional media. Long form podcasts, X/social, prediction markets, etc. deciding this election,” the cryptocurrency mogul wrote.
Armstrong added that Balaji Srinivasan, a renowned Silicon Valley investor and Coinbase’s former Chief Technology Officer, was the first to identify this trend around 7-8 years ago.
Why It Matters: Armstrong’s tweet comes in the wake of the growing popularity of prediction markets this election, which were betting in favor of Donald Trump to win the election. These stood in contrast to national opinion polls, which showed a neck-and-neck fight between Trump and Kamala Harris.
The ‘long form podcasts’ mention could refer to Trump’s three-hour episode with popular podcaster Joe Rogan that aired Friday night.
Armstrong has strongly put his weight behind pro-cryptocurrency candidates in the upcoming Senate elections, backing GOP nominees David McCormick and John Deaton for the Pennsylvania and Massachusetts seats, respectively.
The Coinbase boss had previously said that cryptocurrency is a non-partisan issue, with advocates from both sides of the political spectrum championing its cause.
Global bank Standard Chartered has predicted that Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) could hit $73,000 by the time of the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 5.
Image via Flickr/ TechCrunch
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
